01.03.2003 | 4:17 pm

Believe it or not, the dining room project is looking good. Hubby got the walls sanded and the primer coat on yesterday. He also primed all the molding Marie picked out to face the windows. I think she is really excited to get the project almost completed. Today the beautiful, Frosted Lemon finish coat is going on. It is sunny and cheerful- just what is needed through the cloudy, gray winters here in Pennsylvania. We thought Matt would stay home today and work out of the office, due to more snow that continues to fall. But he is doggedly determined to save his vacation days for their trip to Arizona at spring break. Yes, they are going to come west to see us the second week of March. I know it is hard for all you cold weather friends to believe, but by the second week of March, we will have already seen orange blossoms on the trees, the weather will have made a decided turn toward HEAT, and what little bit of �winter� we do enjoy, will have said, �Bye, by, till next November.�

This completely different weather scenario dictates a different schedule for school and vacations for we in the desert southwest. We begin school around the middle of August, usually the 11, 12, or 13. We get a fall break at the 9- week point, for the end of the first grading period. That happens about the first week of October. It is still quite warm... no beautiful falling, colorful leaves. Next comes the regular Thanksgiving break, and we finish the first semester right as we break for Christmas�also known as �Winter Holiday.� Jan. 6 is our first day back at the �ol grind stone. Which leads, by the way, into another BIG problem I have. I knew I would need to miss the first day back because we would be flying home that day. I CANNOT get the substitute line to work to take my order for a substitute teacher for Monday. I have called the district office, but they weren�t much help. I guess I will end up calling the school early Monday morning to let them know I will be in flight instead of school. That will not endear me to the secretary. She will grumble about having to scrounge up a teacher for the little squirrels. This happy bit of info was brought to you as a courtesy and for the benefit of a new friend, treedancer

When I first began dating, hubby, some 33 years ago, his mom was the greatest and craftiest person to know. She had a wonderful Bernina sewing machine that would produce infinite numbers of beautiful dresses, toys and crafts for the kids. It was, for it�s time, the top of the line in sewing machines. It had all the most innovative �bells and whistles� to create appliqu� and fancy stitches. It could sew almost any type of fabric from the most delicate sheers to heavy leather and denim. Many times I relied on mother-in-law and the Bernina to get me through my own sewing pinches as the girls were growing up and needing custom-made clothes.

Shortly after she passed away, father-in-law brought Benina to me and said he felt I could use it more than he would. Since that time, Bernina has saved many a sewing project from disaster and total doom. Each time I was faced with the daunting task of sewing a three, layered choir dress with interfacing, layers of netting, ruffles and bows, Bernina could handle the job with ease. I would often joke to Hubby, that his mom was secretly standing behind my back, helping me along, just to make sure the girls were dressed properly. Even �The Dress of Death� was saved by Bernina. Shortly after I had a serious stomach surgery, Marie needed a black satin dress sewn for Chorale. I dreaded the project because I was still lacking stamina after a long recovery period. I asked Marie if she knew which side of the fabric choir teacher wanted used for �the right side.� (That�s the side that is to the outside of any garment.) She didn�t know, and since it was the middle of the summer, no one could be found to ask. So I took an unlucky guess. I was wrong! After the whole thing was sewn, I was required to unpick all the stitches, reverse each piece of the dress, and then re-sew it all...darts, facings, pleats, zipper�UGH! When I went to put it on my child, IT DIDN�T FIT! Aaah!!! Unpick, re-do. I guess the third time was the charm. It is the dress that nearly killed me�The Dress of Death.� Thankfully, it was finally completed, due to patience and Bernina. I was, along with Bernina, the dreamer and maker of Marie�s beautiful, designer wedding gown, when she and Matt were married. Bernina had saved our collective skins from *dread* a dress off the rack.

As I was preparing to come east for Christmas, I called and asked if Bernina was working, for I had bequeathed it to Marie upon her move last year. She said it was, and so I came to Bethlehem with full confidence and knowledge that my sewing project for the little girls could be handled in a dandy manner. Yesterday I was cutting and measuring all the pieces for the project, anticipating the completion of the whole thing, using my old pal, Bernina. I dug her out of the closet, set her up, and jumped right into the project. Hmmm... all the stitching was off tension, and everything gathered as I sewed. Hmmm�. fix, fix, try, try�. no luck. Bah�I tried to do some appliqu� with the zigzag... DISASRER! No matter what I did, or how diligently I coaxed, I just couldn�t get Bernina to produce a decent stitch...poor old tired pioneer. I gave up sadly and put her quietly back into the closet. Folding all my pieces, I concluded I would have to finish the project back in AZ on my Montgomery Ward, �step-child� machine. I�m sure that somewhere, here in the hamlet of Bethlehem there must be an all-knowing Bernina-meister who can fix the old girl. In the meantime, it�s off to Wal-mart to placate the little darlings with a mass- produced wonder, instead of a homemade creation from the miracle machine�Bernina.

catsnapples~ at life with Bernina

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